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| November 12, 2006 | Sunday | Shawwal 19, 1427 |
West Indies fold up to fiery Umar Gul on cloudy day: First Test at Lahore
LAHORE, Nov 11: Some incisive bowling by pace duo of Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir enabled Pakistan to dismiss West Indies for a modest score on the opening day of the first Test at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Saturday.
Umar Gul picked up five for 65 and Shahid Nazir three for 42 as the tourists were restricted to 206 despite a dogged 61 from West Indies captain Brian Lara who elected to bat first in dull and overcast conditions.
When bad light curtailed play just after 4.00pm with 18.1 overs still remaining in the day, Pakistan had reached 39 for one with Mohammad Hafeez (11) and Younis Khan (10) at the crease after Jerome Taylor had Imran Farhat leg-before-wicket on a ball that nipped back sharply.
It was a mixture of irresponsible batting and poor technique which led to West Indies folding up cheaply. Apart from Lara, only Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and tail-ender Dave Mohammed made worthwhile contributions.
The rest of the batsmen failed to apply themselves in the prevailing conditions and a majority of them were guilty of committing hara-kiri with Lara a notable exception.
But credit should also go to both Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir for exploiting the conditions superbly. Umar, playing in his 12th Test and his first against the West Indies, ended the innings on an appropriate note when Fidel Edwards became the 24-year-old’s 50th victim.
Umar, Pakistan’s spearhead in the away series in England in last summer, bagged his third five wicket haul and his second on this ground. Making up for a rather ordinary first spell when he sprayed the ball all over the place, Umar returned in lethal mood for a second one that saw him claiming four wickets for just 11 runs off 34 balls.Shahid Nazir, another bowler who impressed in his brief stint during the England series, made the most of the opportunity by claimimng three crucial wickets. The talented pacer justified his selection with a wonderful opening spell from the College End, dismissing a threatening Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in a space off 12 deliveries.
West Indies disintegrated after Gayle and Daren Ganga had given the tourists a reasonable start. Gayle was in his pomp from the onset.
Umar experienced a bit of Gayle-force when he bowled short which allowed the tall Jamaican to smash three boundaries in succession.
However, Umar broke through in the same over when a subdued Ganga hung his bat outside the off-stump and saw Younis take a sharp chance at second slip.
An error in judgment from Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva, now relegated to the ICC international panel after having served on the elite, ended Gayle’s breezy 28-ball innings. The ball from Umar Gul clearly struck the aggressive left-hander high above the stumps and he was unlucky to be declared leg before.
Gayle was soon followed by Sarwan (3) and Chanderpaul (5), both falling to fine swinging deliveries from Nazir.
The West Indies was then rescued by a brisk 44-run partnership between Bravo, who was the dominant partner, and Lara. But just when it appeared that the tourists were on way to recovery, Bravo holed out to mid-off in leg-spinner Danish Kaneria’s second over.
Denesh Ramdin, the wicket-keeper, failed to impress with the bat and felle on the stroke of lunch when Mohammad Hafeez held a good catch in the deep on the last ball of the extended morning session, also off Kaneria.
Kaneria’s two wickets were significant enough to elevate him into a joint eighth place among Pakistan’s top wicket-takers alongside Iqbal Qasim, the former slow left-armer and a national selector, with a tally of 171.
Lara, coming into the game with only 301 runs in 13 Test innings this year, led from the front after getting a rapturous welcome from a small crowd. The 37-year-old, determined to make up for his previous run of low scores in Pakistan, answered his fans’ prayers despite appearing to be jittery in the initial overs.
The West Indian captain settled to play some glorious shots that reminded the fans of his prime days. A deft late cut off Kaneria was definitely shot of the day.
It took a special delivery from Umar Gul to end Lara’s 155-minute Knock which included eight hits to the fence. The batsman could do little as the ball pitched and squared him up.
West Indies must be hoping for similar conditions on Sunday to make some inroads into the Pakistan batting line-up in a game that appear very much poised for an early result.
Lara’s prediction that the pitch would deteriorate as the game progresses is something Pakistan should keep in mind because they would be batting last unless they amass a big total in their first innings.
Younis, who became the third player to score 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year (2006) on Saturday, holds the key in the early stage of the second day.
Scoreboard
West Indies 1st innings
C H Gayle lbw b Shahid Nazir 34
D Ganga c Younis b Umar Gul 3
R R Sarwan c Younis b Shahid Nazir 3
B C Lara c Kamran b Umar Gul 61
S Chanderpaul lbw b Shahid Nazir 5
D J Bravo c Shahid b Kaneria 32
D Ramdin c Hafeez b Kaneria 12
D Mohammed c Kamran b Umar Gul 35
J E Taylor lbw b Umar Gul 8
F H Edwards c Shoaib b Umar Gul 2
C D Collymore not out 1
EXTRAS: (LB-8, NB-2) 10
TOTAL: (all out; 56.1 overs) 206
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-41, 2-41, 3-46, 4-52, 5-96, 6-122, 7-174, 8-202, 9-203, 10-206
BOWLING: Umar Gul 15.1- 2- 65-5; Shahid Nazir 14-4-42-3; Abdul Razzaq 7- 2-22-0; Danish Kaneria 18- 3-58-2 Shoaib Malik 2- 0-11- 0
Pakistan 1st innings
Mohammad Hafeez not out 11
Imran Farhat lbw b Taylor 9
Younis Khan not out 10
EXTRAS: (B-4, LB-1, W-4) 9
TOTAL: (for 1 wicket; 14.5 overs) 39
TO BAT: Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shahid Nazir, Danish Kaneria
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16
BOWLING: Edwards 5- 1-13- 0; Taylor 7-2-11-1; Collymore 2.5-0-10- 0
Toss West Indies, who chose to bat first
Player of the match tba
Umpires EAR de Silva (Sri Lanka) and SJA Taufel (Australia)
TV umpire Nadeem Ghauri
Match referee RS Mahanama (Sri Lanka)
Reserve umpire Afzaal Ahmed
Close of play day 1 - Pakistan 1st innings 39/1 (Mohammad Hafeez 11*, Younis Khan 10*, 14.5 ov) .
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